Pitman Earns Niagara Hall of Fame’s Jack Tupper Daniels Award
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame released its annual awards on September 28 and senior
Katherine Pitman of the Ithaca College women's track & field team received the Jack Tupper Daniels Award for the Most Outstanding Female College Athlete of the Year from a non-NCAA Division I college in or from the Niagara Association.
Pitman won the national championship in the pole vault this past spring, May 26, in Waverly, Iowa. Wartburg College was the host institution for the Division III Championships, and Pitman set a championship record with a mark of 4.21 meters (13 feet, 9.75 inches) during the first day of competition.
She surpassed the national meet record by .01 meters, and was the only entry left in the field after clearing 4.00 meters. The Swampscott, Mass. native also set a new Ithaca school record, as well as a Wartburg facility record.
At the Indoor Championships in Grinnell, Iowa, Pitman was the runner-up in the pole vault at 3.95 meters.
This award culminates an impressive list of achievements for Pitman from the 2015-16 season, as she was also named USTFCCCA Atlantic Field Indoor Athlete of the Year, USTFCCCA Outdoor Most Outstanding Field Performer and Empire 8 Conference Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year.
The runner-up for the Jack Tupper Daniels Award was fellow senior
Brandy Smith, who repeated as national champion in the discus. Smith claimed the national title with a throw of 51.48 meters (168' 10.75") just hours before Pitman won the pole vault.
The last time an Ithaca student-athlete won the Jack Tupper Daniels Award was in 2012. That year, Emma Dewart '12 earned the distinction after a national title performance in the pentathlon for the second consecutive year.
Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame is provisionally chartered by the Regents of the University of the State of New York. The purpose of the Niagara Track & Field Hall of Fame is to recognize those individuals who made significant and outstanding contributions to the Sport of Athletics (including Track & Field, Long Distance Running, Race Walking, and Cross Country Running) while living within the geographic boundaries (New York State West of and including the counties of Oswego, Onondaga, Cortland, and Broome) of the Niagara Association as athletes (including Masters), coaches, and/or administrators (including Competition Officials).